Justin Spitzer is an American television and film writer, producer, and showrunner. He is best known for creating the sitcoms Superstore, American Auto, and St. Denis Medical. His other credits include Scrubs, Courting Alex, and The Office.
Career
Spitzer was an assistant on the sitcom Grounded for Life and on fourteen episodes of the American adaptation of Queer as Folk. From 2008 to 2013, he was a writer and producer for the American adaptation of The Office. In 2013 he wrote a pilot based on The Money Pit that was put into development by NBC but ultimately never aired.
He created the workplace sitcom Superstore, starring America Ferrera and Ben Feldman, which had a midseason premiere on NBC in 2015. He served as showrunner for three seasons before stepping down in 2019 while signing a multi-year deal with NBC and Universal Television. The series continued to run for three more seasons after Spitzer's departure.
In 2020, NBC ordered a pilot for Spitzer's comedy American Auto. The series premiered in 2021 and ran for two seasons before being canceled in 2023. In August 2021, Spitzer had signed a new four-year overall deal with Universal Television.
Personal life
On November 24, 2007, he married producer and writer Jenna Bans. They have two children named Lucy and Phoebe.
CreditsProducing
Television
| Year
|
Title
|
Notes
|
|---|
| 2012–2013
|
The Office
|
co-executive producer
|
| 2014
|
Mulaney
|
| 2015–2021
|
Superstore
|
executive producer, also creator
|
| 2021–2023
|
American Auto
|
| 2024
|
St. Denis Medical
|
Television Movie
| Year
|
Title
|
Notes
|
|---|
| 2013
|
Holding Patterns
|
executive producer
|
Writing
Films
| Year
|
Title
|
Notes
|
|---|
| 2006
|
What Are the Odds?
|
short film
|
Television
| Show
|
Episode Title
|
Season
|
Air Date
|
Notes
|
|---|
| Scrubs
|
"My Butterfly"
|
3
|
March 16, 2004
|
|
| Committed
|
"The Snap Out of it Episode"
|
1
|
February 1, 2005
|
|
| Courting Alex
|
"Birthday"
|
March 6, 2006
|
|
| The Office
|
"Back from Vacation"
|
3
|
January 4, 2007
|
|
| "Product Recall"
|
April 26, 2007
|
co-written with Brent Forrester
|
| "Did I Stutter?"
|
4
|
May 1, 2008
|
| "Moroccan Christmas"
|
5
|
December 11, 2008
|
|
| "Michael Scott Paper Company"
|
April 9, 2009
|
|
| "Shareholder Meeting"
|
6
|
November 19, 2009
|
|
| "Body Language"
|
April 29, 2010
|
|
| "Costume Contest"
|
7
|
October 28, 2010
|
|
| "Dwight K. Schrute, (Acting) Manager"
|
May 12, 2011
|
|
| "Garden Party"
|
8
|
October 13, 2011
|
|
| "Angry Andy"
|
April 19, 2012
|
|
| The Money Pit
|
"Pilot"
|
1
|
|
unaired
|
| Mulaney
|
"Patriot Acts"
|
1
|
November 23, 2014
|
|
| Superstore
|
"Pilot"
|
1
|
November 30, 2015
|
|
| "Shots and Salsa"
|
November 30, 2015
|
|
| "Tornado"
|
2
|
May 4, 2017
|
|
| "Grand Re-Opening"
|
3
|
September 28, 2017
|
|
| "Town Hall"
|
May 3, 2018
|
Story credit
|
| "Employee Appreciation Day"
|
4
|
May 16, 2019
|
|
| "All Sales Final"
|
6
|
March 25, 2021
|
Story credit
|
| American Auto
|
"Pilot"
|
1
|
December 13, 2021
|
|
| "White Van"
|
December 13, 2021
|
|
| "Profile"
|
March 8, 2022
|
co-written with Eric Ledgin
|
| "Crisis"
|
2
|
January 24, 2023
|
| St. Denis Medical
|
"Welcome to St. Denis"
|
1
|
November 12, 2024
|
Television Movie
| Year
|
Title
|
Notes
|
|---|
| 2013
|
Holding Patterns
|
also credited as creator
|
Directing
| Show
|
Episode title
|
Season
|
Air date
|
Notes
|
|---|
| Superstore
|
"Employee App"
|
5
|
February 20, 2020
|
|
Nominations
Television
| Year
|
Association
|
Category
|
Work
|
Result
|
Credited As
|
Ref.
|
|---|
| 2009
|
Primetime Emmy Awards
|
Outstanding Comedy Series
|
The Office
|
Nominated
|
Producer
|
|
| 2010
|
| 2011
|
Supervising Producer
|